Jordan warned on Wednesday (8 August) that a severe financial shortfall facing a United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees could have a "catastrophic" impact on the lives of millions of refugees in the region.

Alarmed by the conditions of Palestinian children in the Israeli military judicial system, the EU has called on Israel, through its representatives in Jerusalem and Ramallah, to respect the children's rights. EURACTIV’s partner Euroefe reports.

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement on Thursday (12 October) on ending a decade-long split following talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, with president Mahmud Abbas calling it a "final" accord.

Israel has approved hundreds of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, an official said yesterday (4 July), in a move denounced by UN chief Ban Ki-moon and likely to further raise tensions following a series of Palestinian attacks.

Turkey and Israel signed a deal on Tuesday (28 June) to restore ties after a six-year rift, formalising an agreement which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said sent a “hopeful signal” for regional stability.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini called the Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday (11 October) and stressed that any reaction to a latest escalation of violence should be proportionate.

Former British premier Tony Blair is standing down as the Quartet representative in the Middle East, the organisation said yesterday (27 May), after eight years of struggling to break ground in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

SPECIAL REPORT: European frustration with the glacial pace of moves to Palestinian statehood could lead to the bloc’s aid contributions to the region becoming unsustainable in as little as 3-4 years, officials say.

Germany, France and Britain have proposed reactivating a European Union mission on the Egypt-Gaza border to help stabilise the Palestinian enclave after a month-long war, a German diplomatic source said on Wednesday.

European Union leaders on Wednesday (16 July) called on Israelis and Palestinians to end violence and said they welcomed efforts, particularly from Egypt, to broker a cease-fire following more than a week of warfare.

Few issues polarise public opinion more than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whether it's Europe, or the United States, the problem is the same. One of the main reasons why is the ongoing crisis of what to do with the descendants of the 700,000 plus refugees, created by the first Arab-Israeli war, in 1948. Spread around the world, their numbers today exceed 5 million.

France, Germany and Belgium have expressed concern about the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, while in Brussels the EU's foreign chief and European Parliament president called on both partiess to stop hostilities and avoid further casualties.

This is the reality of the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli war: It matters to the Palestinians and Israelis but not to the world, beyond those who demand a world that is just and whose definition of justice is what they believe to be just, writes Stratfor.

The recent World Bank report which draws a bleak picture of Palestinian state building projects reveals the real problem which is the absence of political objectives behind those initiatives, argues Dimitris Bouris.

The recent downgrade in Turkish-Israeli relations is not beneficial to either country, leaving Israel more isolated and depriving Turkey of its role as a mediator at a time of acute instability and change in the region, argue Emiliano Alessandri and Joshua Walker of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Palestinian plans to take a statehood bid to the UN in September could spark bloodshed, warns Israel's ambassador to Brussels, Ran Curiel. Instead, he argues, the EU should stand by the Quartet's principles and so help Israel to negotiate a Palestinian state.

Israel should ease its Gaza blockade further and allow Palestinians to resume exports from the territory, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Sunday (18 July) during a visit to the Hamas-controlled enclave.

Turkey's minister of European affairs and chief EU negotiator, Egemen Bagi?, made a bold appeal for the embargo on Gaza to be lifted on a visit to Brussels yesterday (9 June). At the same time in Washington, US President Barack Obama described the current situation there as "unsustainable" and called for "a new approach".